


Holding On for Life

by weasleytook



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Push (2009)
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-17 10:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4663413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleytook/pseuds/weasleytook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You've really done it this time, Nick Gant."</p><p>aka the story of how Nick Gant's dumb plan ends up saving them both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding On for Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galfridian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galfridian/gifts).



> This sincerely feels like it deserves about 10,000 more words to be the full story, but I hope you love what is here.
> 
> <3
> 
> (All errors are my own and OOPS.)

“You’ve really done it this time, Nick Gant.”

She’s amazed Division is letting them be in the same room together.  Cassie takes a long look around the facility’s common area, at people who were once just like them, but now they’ve been experimented on and tortured so many times, they’re practically zombies. It’s like something you’d see in a movie about a mental hospital, but worse because it’s actually real life.

“Not really in the mood for it right now, Cas.”

She sits on the couch next to him and takes a closer look. He looks more tired than she does and at closer inspection, he’s trembling just slightly.

“What – what did they do to you?”

Cassie reaches out to touch his arm but he flinches and starts shaking his head. “I – I don’t know – I think they drugged me, because I can’t use my power – it’s like it’s there under the surface but I can’t use it.”

She tries again and this time he doesn’t flinch from her touch. “It’s okay. We’ve been doing this together for six years and we’ve gotten out of worse situations. We’ll get out of this one too.”

He stops trembling and finally looks her in the eyes with a glance of complete skepticism. “This was a dumb plan. Getting captured by Division on purpose. I’m so stupid.”

“If you’re stupid, then I’m stupid for going along with it and I’m definitely not stupid.”

She throws her arms around his shoulders and touches her forehead to his cheek.  “I’m sorry, Cas. I messed up.”

“Don’t apologize for anything. We’ll figure it out.”

 

*

 

But they don’t figure it out. Cassie makes multiple attempts not to cooperate with their tests, but they threaten Nick’s life if she refuses to comply. They drain him of his power, while they try to make her stronger. Nick is useless to them except as their bargaining chip, it’s always been Cassie’s power they really want.

It had seemed like a great idea at the time. Well, maybe not _great_ , but everything else they had tried in order to destroy Division had failed miserably, so it was the _only_ idea. Cooperate and maybe they’ll be kind. Or, pretend to cooperate and blow them to pieces from the inside. But they had been keeping Nick too sick to think since they got here, and while Cassie were getting visions stronger than ever, nothing was telling her how to get out of this mess. Division had found a way to direct her visions to thinks _they_ wanted to know, instead of things that could actually help her.

They had been there for almost four months already and she wasn’t sure how much longer Nick could take it. She had never seen him so broken and she worried another week might take him away from her completely. He’d be alive, maybe, but he wouldn’t be Nick.

 

*

 

It’s the middle of the night on their 142nd day in captivity when she’s snatched out of her bed in the dark. Division makes her take some sort of pill at night that puts her into a near-comatose sleep, something about how sleep affects the part of her brains where her visions come from, so she can’t resist or even cry for help. The woman carrying her is tall and strong enough to throw Cassie over her shoulder like she weighs nothing. Cassie doesn’t know how far they’ve walked or where they’re going, but eventually they end up outside next to what sounds like a helicopter.

She hears a male voice talk to her kidnapper (or rescuer, Cassie isn’t entirely sure), calling her Bobbi and asking if everything is okay.

“Almost didn’t make it to get her, but Lance had my back. May has the building secured.”

“Good, we have another team in place to take care of the rest of the patients. Mack?”

There’s a crackle of a radio and a man’s voice answers, “Got him and on our way. May wasn’t kidding when she said he looks just like Rogers.”

Cassie has no idea who Rogers, Mack, Lance or May might be but she hopes the “him” they referred to is Nick. Bobbi places her on a cot in the back of the helicopter and eventually she’s joined by an unconscious Nick on the cot next to her. Cassie is just able to reach out and brush his hand with her fingers. Wherever they’re going, at least they’re still together.

She also notices a woman kneeling at the foot of her bed, a woman with a face she’s seen before. “You’re going to be okay now. Sorry it took us so long.”

Cassie is just able to sputter out her response before passing out, “Emily?”

 

*

 

When Cassie wakes up, she feels both incredibly well rested and incredibly sore, which means she must have been in bed for a very long time. She’s surprised to find herself in a real room, instead of a cell. It looks a little clinical, sure, but as far as she can tell there’s no bars or locks. As soon as she gets her bearings, she tests that theory by opening the door and stepping out in to the hallway.

“Hi!”

She’s greeted by a girl a few feet away, sitting in a chair and looking far too chipper. “Hi? Are you guarding my door?”

“Not exactly. They just didn’t want you waking up and wandering around alone. So we’ve been taking shifts. I’m Skye, by the way.”

“Okay, Skye. Where the hell am I? Who the hell are you? Where is Nick? And, what –“ Cassie gestures to the Periodic Table pajama bottoms she’s wearing, “- the hell am I wearing?”

Skye stands and walks a couple steps towards her. “Let me take those questions in reverse order. Those belong to Jemma, who is about your size and dressed you. She didn’t think you’d want to wake up in the scrubs they had on you at Division. Nick is fine and I’ll take you to see him soon. Still recovering from what those bastards did to him, but he’ll be fine. I’m Skye, like I said and I’m an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and this is The Playground, the current headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“And you’re going to do what to us?”

“Help you. I promise, we’re the good guys. We help people like you, people like me. I know you probably don’t want to trust me, but keep in mind, we didn’t lock you in here. And the front door is open so you can leave whenever you want.”

She’s still wary, because the list of people she trusts has had exactly one name on it for a very long time. “What do you mean people like you? Are you –“

Skye motions for her to follow her down the hallway and she answers as they walk, “Not exactly like you. I have a power, but I didn’t get it from Division. I’ll show you sometime, I promise. But, I thought you might want to see this first.”

Skye opens a door into a room that contains some sort of lab, but more importantly, a glass enclosed room where Nick is lying on a hospital gurney. Cassie runs, her blonde and black streaked hair flying behind her, and takes a seat on the edge of his bed, grabbing his hand with both of hers. Skye comes in with another brunette woman who smiles sympathetically at her.

“Are you sure he’s okay?”

The other woman nods and says in a British accent, “I promise. Division did a real number on him, so he may be out of it for a few more days while we work the supression drugs out of his system, but he’ll recover, good as new.”

Skye says to the other woman, “I’ve gotta go talk to AC, you can take it from here, right?”

“Of course.”

Skye leaves, and Cassie looks back at the other woman. “What’s your name?”

“Jemma.”

“Oh. Thanks for the pajamas.”

“No problem. Listen, I know you’re concerned, but my partner Fitz and I, we’re taking great care of him. You’re safe with us.”

She nods and suddenly remembers what she saw in the helicopter before she passed out. “Wait. Emily, she works here? Because last time I saw her was in Hong Kong.”

“Emily is actually Melinda May, also an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., she was working undercover then, and has been looking for you both ever since.”

“I have _so_ many questions.”

“In due time. So, you really haven’t heard anything about S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA or the Battle of New York or –“

“Maybe vaguely, but we don’t get to watch a lot of news.”

Jemma nods in understanding and watches for a moment as Cassie looks back at Nick. “I hate to pry, but are you two – you know?”

Cassie shakes her head immediately, “No, it’s not like that.”

But it _is_ , it’s just that neither one of them has acted on it. Nick would never have even thought about it before she was eighteen, and in the two years since she turned eighteen, the feelings have been there, but neither of them dared to make the move. But, she _knows_ , beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Cassie speaks again, with a quiet laugh in her voice, “Maybe. It’s complicated.”

Jemma laughs, “I _completely_ understand.”

 

*

 

They eventually force her to shower, change in to real clothes and have some lunch. She also meets Fitz and gets formal introductions to most of her rescue team, Mack, Bobbi and Lance. Over lunch, Skye fills her in on all of the pertinent details, and although she has vague recollections of hearing about the Battle of New York and some of the other things Skye tells her, they were hiding out all over the world during most of it, so she never fully paid attention.

Skye brings up a picture on her phone and holds it up to show her. “And then there’s this guy.”

“He looks a little familiar, I guess.”

“Seriously? You’re joking, right?”

“Am I supposed to know him?”

“This is Steve Rogers aka Captain America, who kind of looks exactly like your friend Nick.”

Cassie frowns and squints at the screen. This guy had longer hair than Nick, was clean shaven and dressed in some sort of patriotic uniform. There hadn’t been a lot of cause for Nick to smile lately, but when he gave her his goofiest grin to cheer her up, it looked a lot like this guy’s smile.

“I mean, maybe they could be related.”

Skye put her phone down on the table and shook her head. “You’re crazy, they’re basically identical.”

They’re interrupted by the arrival of Melinda May, who takes a seat across from them and Cassie can’t help but stare, because it’s still Emily to her.

May looks towards Skye and asks, “Did you give her the tour? Fill her in?”

“On most things. But not the real reason why they’re here.”

Cassie stops staring and looks back at Skye, then towards Melinda again. “The real reason?”

May nods and says, “When you met me six years ago in Hong Kong, I was working undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D., looking for people like you and Nick, seeking out Division agents as well. Our intention was to bring you both in then, but you slipped out of sight.”

“So are you really a Sniff or?”

“Not exactly. It was my cover story, one that I had to be very skilled to fake.”

“What were you going to bring us in for? Why are we here now?”

May’s stony glare softens a bit and Cassie isn’t sure if it’s sincere or her just pretending to be sincere to soften her up, but it makes her pay attention. “We want to bring down Division for good. With your help. And we want to help you and Nick, make sure you’re safe, help you deal with your abilities better. And we want to help the others like you, your friends, Hook, Pinky, Kira –“

“Kira went to the dark side, and I don’t think she’s ever coming back.”

May doesn’t mention Cassie’s mother, so she must already know that she died four years ago in a Division facility.

“I – I don’t want to be a lab rat. I especially don’t want Nick to have to go through that, he’s been through enough.”

Skye smiles at her, and Cassie can tell that she understands. “You won’t be. I mean, FitzSimmons will probably want to poke at you a few times, but they’re mostly harmless and it’s all for science or whatever. You’ll be safer here than you will be on the outside, I promise you that.”

May nods in agreement with Skye. “Coulson was supposed to give you this whole recruitment speech, but he got called away. He’s better at it than me, but Skye is right. You’re safe with us. It’s time to stop Division once and for all. You don’t have to stay, but think about it and talk it over with Nick when he’s up to talking.”

May leaves and there’s a long moment of silence before Cassie turns back to Skye with a grin. “So what is it that you can do?”

Skye motions for Cassie to look at her uneaten piece of apple pie. There’s a hum in the air and Cassie can feel a tingling in her ears, then suddenly the pie explodes. She jolts slightly and then looks at Skye. “You make food explode? That’s your power?”

“No, that’s not my power. But when I really turn it on, I tend to break important things. Someday I’ll let you see the real thing, just not here.”

“Hmm.”

“Stick with us and you’ll learn there’s a lot more in the world than what Division created.”

 

*

 

Nick sleeps for almost four more days, but Cassie doesn’t worry because FitzSimmons are reassuring to the point of being annoying. None of them really know what Division did to him, besides the drugs, and Cassie can only fill them in on some of the experiments since they were kept apart so much. Jemma tells her that all of his tests look normal, so it’s just a matter of time.

She spends a lot of her time at Nick’s side, and while most of the team is out on a mission, Jemma, Fitz, and Skye have been keeiping her entertained and well taken care of. Cassie is mostly entertained by how surprisingly easy it is to get under Fitz’s skin, and how much it makes Jemma and Skye laugh when she does. He’s older than her, but it’s like having the little brother she never got to have.

One afternoon, Skye and Cassie are playing cards at the foot of Nick’s bed when Cassie can’t help but be nosy. “Do FitzSimmons ever go out in the field?”

“Sometimes, but not much sciencing going on with this particular mission.”

“And you? I know you’re an agent, so how did you get stuck babysitting me?”

Skye lays down her cards and looks at her. “Not babysitting, I chose this assignment.”

“Why?”

“Well, you’re young, I’m young. You have a superpower, I make pies explode. We both grew up as orphans. We’re both a little rebellious.”

Cassie grins and Skye grins back as she continues, “Okay, maybe a _lot_ rebellious. And honestly? My job is to recruit you and I think I’m doing pretty good.”

“And here I thought we were becoming friends, but I guess I’m just an asset to you.”

Skye looks at her blankly. “The world is a cold place, Cassie, and it’s time you learned the truth.”

Both women laugh, but when they go to resume their card game, they’re interrupted by the sound of coughing.

Cassie turns her head and it takes all of her willpower to not pounce on a very much awake Nick.

“Hey, welcome back.”

“Heyyy, we’re somewhere… different?”

“Somewhere better.”

Nick looks around and sees Skye who is smiling awkwardly at him. “Hey.”

“Did we make a new friend?”

Cassie grabs his hand and smiles. “ _I_ did. Jury is still out on you.”

Skye grabs the deck of cards and stands up, “I’ll leave you two alone. But if you need anything, I’ll be down the hall.”

Nick waits until she’s gone and then looks over at Cassie. “Status check?”

“Not dead.”

“So that’s an improvement. Location?”

“It’s a _very_ long story.”

“We safe?”

She takes a breath in and then nods. “Yeah. We’re safe.”

“Cool.” Nick puts one hand up and says, “High five?”

“You’re an idiot, Nick Gant.”

He gives her a grin, not just any grin, _that_ grin. She would do just about anything for that grin, including perform a high five, which is exactly what she does.

 

*

 

Cassie doesn’t give him the whole story immediately. She waits until he’s showered, eaten some real food and let FitzSimmons check to make sure he’s not going to lapse into some sort of coma suddenly. (He’s not. They’re just adorably paranoid.)

They move Nick to a room next door to Cassie’s and make sure he has some actual clothes to wear instead of hospital scrubs. When he’s finally settled in, Cassie sits with him on his bed and tells him everything she knows and everything she’s learned since being here, including the offer on the table for them to join S.H.I.E.L.D. officially. After she finishes, she sighs and looks at him expectantly.

“Well?”

“It’s a lot. I mean, a _lot_.”

“I know.”

His forehead is creased like he’s thinking it over and after a moment, he says, “Do you trust them?”

“I do.”

She’s about to launch into a speech about how maybe she’s being foolish, and how she usually doesn’t trust that easily, but before she can, Nick interjects, “Then I do too.”

“Really?”

“Cassie, we haven’t been apart a single day in over six years because we trust each other. If you’re good, I’m good.”

“I’m good.” Nick grabs her hand and smiles at her, which makes her surprisingly nervous, so she says, “It’s getting late, and you have a lot to process, so I should probably go.”

She starts to stand up but Nick stops her by refusing to let go of her hand. “I just slept for four days. I’m not tired. Stay?”

Cassie nods and they get into a position that’s become familiar over the years, lying on their sides in bed, facing each other. When she was younger, there was always plenty of distance between them, but in the last year, the gap has started to close.

She says the first thing that comes to mind once they’re settled in, “I was so scared.”

“Of what?”

“They were going to kill you, Nick. Another week there, or hell, another day and I might have lost you. You were –“

She falters and Nick gives her brightest smile. Cassie doesn’t know what he’s about to say but she’s sure it’s something goofy about how she didn’t lose him, and hey, they always get out of every mess no matter how bad, and so on.

Just as he’s about to form the first word, she says, “Oh, screw it,” and presses her lips to his. There’s a slight jolt of surprise from Nick, but it only takes a second for him to kiss her back. His hand quickly goes to her waist and pulls her close to him. She’s seen a lot of things in her visions, but never this. It’s nice when life surprises you. She can feel a smile coming on even as the kiss continues and they become more tangled up in each other, so she breaks it off for a moment.

“Cas?”

She can’t stop the giggle that escapes her right before she answers, “Yes?”

“What the hell was that?”

She touches the side of his face and realizes how much easier it feels to smile in this moment. There are still tough times ahead, but being here with Nick is the safest she’s ever felt. “I kissed you.”

“I noticed.”

“You kissed me back.”

“I did.”

“I think that’s all pretty straightforward.”

He rolls his eyes and says, “Well, I can’t argue with that.”

She doesn’t have to spill out all her sappy, flowery feelings in this exact moment, there will be more days like this to come. Besides, they both already know even if they’ve never said it out loud. Cassie grins and gives him a peck on the lips before saying, “You know better. You should _never_ argue with me.”

Nick puts his hand in her hair and pulls her in for another kiss and Cassie gives back as good as she gets. She doesn’t feel like they’re living on borrowed time anymore, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to savor every second they have.

 

*

 

They don’t inform Skye of their decision to stay until three days after Nick wakes up, even though it was pretty much decided that night in his room. They just need to be _sure_ , and Cassie wants Nick to meet everyone before they make it official.

Skye is so pleased when Cassie tells her the news, she threatens to bake a cake, until Fitz tells her absolutely not, they’ll just order one. She’s also been barely containing herself for days to ask Nick something, and her excitement makes her blurt it out, “So did she show you the picture?”

“What picture?”

Cassie interjects, “Oh, it’s stupid. Skye thinks you look like this Captain America superhero guy.”

Skye crosses her arms. “No, Cassie, _everyone_ thinks that. Except you.”

Skye pulls her phone out and brings up the same picture she had shown Cassie on the first day. “Here.”

Nick inspects it closely and then hands it back to Skye. “Well, he is incredibly good looking, so I might have to side with Skye on this one.”

Skye looks like she’s about to do a victory dance, but Cassie just rolls her eyes and says to Nick, “Well, I guess you’ve found your Halloween costume for next year.”

 

*

 

When they get to the part of the evening that involves lots of beer and the team regaling the new recruits with stories of their adventures, Skye notices that Coulson and May are nowhere to be found. Skye excuses herself to find May, since she really wants her to tell them the story about the time her and Maria Hill got drunk on a girls’ night and accidentally saved a foreign diplomat from being kidnapped.

She heads to the hallway and hears voices coming from Coulson’s office, so she creeps up to the door, which is cracked open just slightly, and hears May say, “When are we going to tell him about his father?”

Coulson responds, “Not yet. Maybe never. He doesn’t even remember that Nick exists, so I’m not sure it would do either of them any good.”

Skye pushes the door open with one hand and stares them both down. “I thought Nick’s dad was dead.”

“Skye –“

“No, don’t _Skye_ me, AC. You gave me the job of recruiting them. I did. Incredibly well, I might add. You owe me the truth.”

Sometimes, most of the time really, she hates all of the lies around here, even when they are supposedly for the greater good.

May interjects, “You remember Hank Thompson?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“When Nick was a child, Division came for his father and everyone, including Nick, assumed he was killed. But, instead they erased all of his memories and were working to turn him into a Division agent. S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to extract him, but when he came to us, he was a blank slate. So they made him Cameron Klein.”

Skye shakes her head in disbelief. From Gant to Klein to Thompson, it’s a wonder the poor man’s head didn’t explode from all the times it had been scrambled.

Coulson decides to continue where May left off and says, “We didn’t know he had a son when he first came to us. It wasn’t until years later when we hacked Division’s files.”

Skye sighs sadly, “You have to tell Nick.”

“I’m not sure it will do any good. Thompson could sit across a dinner table from Nick and would never know it’s his son. That part of his memory is long gone.”

Skye isn’t so sure about that. If Thompson had muscle memory to remember his S.H.I.E.L.D. training, then surely he might recognize his own son. (And maybe deep down a part of her was over-identifying when it came to hoping a memory-wiped father could someday remember their child.)

“I can’t lie to him forever.”

May answers, “Then don’t. Just lie to him for now.”

Skye nods, but it doesn’t come easy to her. She doesn’t say another word as she exits Coulson’s office, but when she starts walking back to the part, she mutters to herself, “Sometimes I really hate this job.”


End file.
